No-Deposit Bonus Glossary
How to use this glossary
No-deposit bonuses are governed by terms and conditions that decide whether an offer is genuinely worth claiming. The language can be dense, and two offers that look identical on the surface may behave very differently once you read the small print. This glossary defines the terms you are most likely to meet, in alphabetical order, so you can read any offer’s T&Cs with confidence.
Where a term is central to whether you can actually keep your winnings, we link to a deeper explainer. The two that matter most are wagering requirements and the max cash-out limit. Our full scoring approach lives on the methodology page, and every offer we have checked is listed on the home page ledger.
This page is for an adult audience (18+). Bonus play is entertainment, not a way to earn income.
The terms, A to Z
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Bonus abuse | Behaviour the operator defines as exploiting an offer in bad faith — for example opening multiple accounts, or placing equal bets on red and black to clear wagering with low risk. It can void winnings, so read the rules before adopting any “system”. |
| Bonus code | A short string you enter at sign-up or in the cashier to activate a specific promotion. Without the correct code, the bonus is usually not credited, and codes cannot normally be applied retroactively. |
| Cooling-off | A short, self-requested pause (often 24 hours to 6 weeks) during which you cannot deposit or play. It is a lighter tool than self-exclusion and is designed to interrupt impulsive sessions. |
| Deposit limit | A cap you set on how much you can deposit per day, week or month. It is one of the simplest responsible-play tools and applies regardless of any bonus. |
| Excluded games | Titles that do not count toward wagering at all, and on which betting with bonus funds may breach the terms. Progressive jackpots and certain high-RTP slots are frequently excluded. |
| Expiry | The deadline by which a bonus, or its wagering, must be used. No-deposit offers often expire quickly — 24 hours to 7 days is common. Anything tied to the bonus is removed once it lapses. |
| Free cash | A small cash credit (for example $10) added to your account with no deposit, usable across eligible games. Unlike free spins it is not tied to one title, but it carries the same wagering and cash-out rules. |
| Free chip | A fixed-value credit, common at table-game and live-dealer casinos, that you can stake on eligible games. Functionally similar to free cash but often branded as a “chip”. |
| Free spins | A set number of pre-paid spins on a named slot at a fixed stake. Any winnings are usually paid as bonus funds and must clear the wagering requirement before withdrawal. |
| Game weighting | Also called contribution. The percentage each game category adds to wagering — slots commonly 100%, table games 10% or less. A bet that “counts” only 10% takes ten times as long to clear the same requirement. |
| Gold coins | In social and sweepstakes casinos, a play-only currency with no cash value. You can buy or earn them, but they cannot be redeemed for prizes. |
| KYC | Know Your Customer — identity and address verification an operator runs to comply with anti-money-laundering rules, usually before your first payout. Preparing your documents early avoids withdrawal delays. |
| Max bet | The largest single stake allowed while a bonus is active, often $5 or less. Exceeding it — even once — is a common reason winnings are voided, so check this limit before you spin. |
| Max cash-out | Also called max win. The ceiling on how much you can withdraw from a no-deposit bonus, regardless of how much you win. A $100 cap turns a $1,000 jackpot into a $100 payout. See our max cash-out explainer. |
| Max conversion | A related cap expressed as a multiple of the bonus — for example “5x the bonus amount”. A $10 bonus with 5x conversion lets you convert at most $50 of winnings to real cash. |
| Non-sticky bonus | A bonus kept separate from your own funds, so you can withdraw your real-money balance without first clearing the bonus. Generally more player-friendly than a sticky bonus. |
| Reverse withdrawal | A feature (now restricted in many regulated markets) that lets you cancel a pending withdrawal and return the funds to your playable balance. It can quietly undo a win, so disable it where possible. |
| RTP | Return to Player — the long-run theoretical percentage a game pays back, such as 96%. It is a statistical average over millions of spins, never a guarantee for any single session. |
| Self-exclusion | A formal request to block your own access to an operator (or, via national schemes, many operators) for a set period or permanently. See our responsible gambling page section for the tools available. |
| Sticky bonus | A bonus that cannot itself be withdrawn — only winnings generated with it can be cashed out, and the bonus stake is removed at payout. Common on no-deposit offers. |
| Sweeps coins | In sweepstakes casinos, a promotional currency that can, under the site’s published rules, be redeemed for prizes. It follows a different legal model from real-money gambling and from gold coins. |
| Time-out | A short break you trigger yourself, similar to a cooling-off period, that temporarily blocks play without closing your account. |
| Volatility | Also called variance. How a game distributes its payouts — high-volatility slots pay rarely but larger, low-volatility slots pay often but smaller. It affects how a bankroll behaves but never changes the long-run RTP. |
| Wagering contribution | The same idea as game weighting, applied to your progress: the share of each wagered amount that actually reduces your remaining requirement. Betting on a 10%-weighted game contributes only a tenth of your stake. |
| Wagering requirement | Also called playthrough. The number of times you must bet a bonus (and sometimes winnings) before withdrawal — for example 40x. The single most important term in most offers; full detail in our wagering requirements guide. |
A worked example
Suppose you claim a $10 free-cash bonus with a 40x wagering requirement, a $100 max cash-out, slots weighted at 100% and table games at 10%, a $5 max bet and a 3-day expiry.
To clear it you must wager $10 × 40 = $400 on eligible slots. If you stray onto a table game, only 10% of each bet counts, so the same $400 of stakes would clear just $40 of the requirement. Stake more than $5 on a single bet and you risk voiding the lot. Even if you win big, the $100 max cash-out caps your payout. And all of this must happen inside three days.
That single example uses ten of the terms above — which is exactly why reading the T&Cs matters more than the headline figure. To see how we turn these terms into a single comparable number, read the methodology, and browse the current offers on the home page.
A note on responsible play
Every term here exists inside a product designed for entertainment. Set a budget you are comfortable losing, use deposit and time limits, and step away if play stops being fun. No bonus, however generous on paper, should be treated as a source of income.